Thursday, 19 March 2009

Common Purpose - a major threat to society?

Have you noticed in the past few years how many people at the 'Head of Department' level, who fail in their mission/job, are invariably allowed to resign from their position. They then walk away with huge pensions intact, lump sums in compensation and even when their actions have been criminal they never face charges.

They appear to have an invisible aura around then which suggests 'untouchable' and nobody appears to be able to penetrate this barrier. It has left me thinking who creates the barrier, who installed the 'untouchable' tag, why can't anyone penetrate the protective screen and why are these people never charged?

About a week after I began this Blog I visited an area which had caught my attention and frankly more than a year later nothing has emerged to explain the workings of an organisation called Common Purpose. If you Google 'Common Purpose' then they do have a bright, shiny, website but frankly it tells you pretty much nothing. They apparently recruit promising individuals for positions of authority (as long as they do as they are told).

Since I wrote my little piece more Blogs have also approached this subject because some very important people belong to this 'secret oganisation' and the BNP claim to be the only political party not tainted by Common Purpose.

Back in January 2008 I wrote the following:-

"I can only tell you what I have read on the Internet because I have never read a word about this organisation in the press. All these crusading journalists who will expose all manner of political corruption and not a word on an organisation which appears to be subverting our law enforcing bodies. It reminds me of the immortal line in the film 'Fight Club' you know the one; "The first rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club".

Now I am beginning to understand who has imposed this invisible barrier around the incompetents and miscreants who appear to pervade the government, the law, the police, the NHS, Social Services,Education, Local Government and la-la-la almost everywhere else.

When one of their own commits gross misconduct and is exposed to public scrutiny the process swings into action. They are suspended on full pay pending an 'independent' enquiry. They are then allowed to resign which ensures their pension rights and they walk into the sunset clutching their lump sum. They are almost invariably on huge salaries and during the tenure of their position they have probably syphoned off large sums of public money which the government throws at its public services.

If you are reading this Blog I don't need to describe the effect that this insidious organisation has had on our Public Services. We have all experienced the problems.Common Purpose is inexorably linked with the European Union. I have long thought that deep in the depths of the EU there are people who are working to destroy England. This is how they are doing it. If anyone can revoke my theory I would be glad to withdraw my allegation but you know the rule about the first rule of Fight Club!

4 comments:

Thank you 'Stopcp' I had missed your campaign and your website should be required reading for anyone curious about the state of the country today. I have been groping in the dark really but you really put the icing on the cake.

Mmmm Maybe I'm naive but I still have some misgivings about the conspiracy theories on CP. Here is why.Let me say I left Local Government 20 years ago (redundancy because of cut-backs) . I WAS a Deputy Chief Officer in a large famous “regional capital “Authority. IE I was just 2 levels lower than the CEOAlthough I was effectively sacked it wasn’t for incompetence or misdemeanour . I WAS paid the “going rate” of redundancy which admittedly was generous, AND my 3 months pay in lieu of notice – my contract was terminable at 3 months notice wither side.At the time 3 month contracts WERE the norm at my level and above. There were NO 1,2,3,5 year contracts (or bonuses or perks come to that).Now I MUST say that there WERE double standards operating even then. The Directorate level formed a sort of club. We indeed had a few Chief Officers (2 successive Directors of Education for example) who proved incompetent. At a lower level they would simply have been disciplined and sacked with the legal payment in lieu of notice but only if necessary (didn’t apply to gross misconduct for example) and pension entitlements preserved (that is 1/80 of final salary for each full year of service - so someone with 20 years service on say 30k a year would eventually be entitled to a pension of £7500, index linked). EVERYONE in the non-manual occupations had exactly the same pension entitlements – no longer so. Some now have more. Some MUCH more.ONLY in cases of serious fraud and dishonesty were pensions forfeit. I only ever knew of one such case, in 28 years, yet part of my responsibilities included employment law and discipline.In the case of the Directorate though, no one was ever dismissed for incompetence. They WERE invited to resign with due payment “in lieu of notice” – 3 months, perhaps 6 at most – and preservation of pension rights. No dismissal and no breach of contract by the Authority ipso facto no need or legal right to “compensation” and no press attention. There were NEVER compensation payments that I knew of – but these matters were dealt with by the CEO and Councillors. No-one else. Sometimes the individual was tolerated for a year or so until they reached 50 at which point they left with an immediate full pension or thereabouts! Maybe even a reduced redundancy payment if redundancy could be engineered. Very civil and “caring”.Sometimes the Directorate member WAS suspended on full pay during an investigation – as recently happened with Sharon Shoesmith and others. That IS the recommended procedure. Ignoring it almost certainly WILL result in a successful Appeal to an Industrial tribunal however incompetent was the officer. The investigation should however be quickly concluded. Still doesn’t protect against a legitimate claim for unfair dismissal and compensation though. (Complex area)The PROBLEM with Sharon Shoesmith et al is NOT Common Purpose but rather the badly drawn long term contracts which obviously make no provision for action in case of failure. So “payment in lieu of notice” becomes VERY expensive. Football Managers well know this.The Police of course have practiced the “resignation” trick to avoid dismissal and possible loss of pension since time began!MY experiences were 20 years ago and CP didn’t even exist. I must say that nor was I ever aware of the influence of that other subject of conspiracy theory – the Masons. I reached MY position without being a member and I am quite certain that I would have been invited to join by Masonic colleagues had there been any. Maybe there were but they just didn’t like me!What I WAS aware of was the promotion of unsuitable candidates who, illegally, supported the Labour Party. Sycophants who secretly joined the Party, or were coerced to do so, and then enjoyed “protected” status and prostituted their professional judgements to fit the requirements of their political sponsors, rather than give GENUINE and impartial advice as their public employment required. SOME of these even became effective Commissars who attempted to instruct more senior colleagues. And no, this is NOT speculation. One senior Councillor told me that “either you join the party or your career is finished” !!! And he meant it.Any of this familiar?So NO I do not think CP is the main or even A cause of what is happening. Culture at the top levels IS – “let’s all hang together chaps” . AND bad employment practices and badly drawn contracts. AND the likely interference of political parties. AND/OR the self-interested recommendations of the “Directorate” classes. Believe me it happens. What happened after I and many other people at my rough level were made redundant to save money? Well of course the reduced Directorate level managed to award themselves a 20% pay rise!!! HONEST. In my day we certainly had leadership and management development courses. We perhaps only spoke to fellow participants about this for the very simple reason that others wouldn’t know what we were talking about and some at least would sneakily attempt sabotage of new approaches if they judged that THEY might be inconvenienced. It happens – just like people on bonuses, and MP’s, always, always, exploit the rules to their own advantage.Rant over – although, apart from the personal bits, I am making a professional and informed analysis of what happens. It may have changed in 20 years but what I describe was the “infant” to the current “adult”. That is it IS the same but more so.

Thank you for your contribution which was very interesting. Every now and then someone visits with genuine experience and gives me a new perspective. It is clear that the 'boys and girls at the top'have always looked after themselves but I am still very concerned by this creeping influence which appears to be gaining momentum. I agree that the 'infant' may have become the 'adult' but the effects are being felt everywhere we look and it is not pretty. I would rather be accused of overreacting than sit and ignore what by any standards is poor practice in so many fields of public service.